Every religion of the world has been named either after its founder or after the community or nation in which it was born. For instance, Christianity takes its name from its prophet Jesus Christ; Buddhism from its founder, Gautama Buddha; Zoroastrianism from its founder Zoroaster-, and Judaism, the religion of the Jews, from the name of the tribe Judah (of the country of Judea) where it originated. The same is true of all other religions except Islam, which enjoys the unique distinction of having no such association with any particular person or people or country. Nor is it the product of any human mind. It is a universal religion and its objective is to create and cultivate in man the quality and attitude of Islam.
Islam, in fact, is an attributive title. Anyone who possesses this attribute, whatever race, community, country or group he belongs to, is a Muslim. According to the Qur’an (the Holy Book of the Muslims), among every people and in all ages there have been good and righteous people who possessed this attribute - and all of them were and are Muslims.
Islam - What Does it Mean?
Islam is an Arabic word and connotes submission, surrender and obedience. As a religion, Islam stands for complete submission and obedience to Allah.1 Everyone can see that we live in an orderly universe, where everything is assigned a place in a grand scheme. The moon, the stars and all the heavenly bodies are knit together in a magnificent system. They follow unalterable laws and make not even the slightest deviation from their ordained courses. Similarly, everything in the world, from the minute whirling electron to the mighty nebulae, invariably follows its own laws. Matter, energy and life - all obey their laws and grow and change and live and die in accordance with those laws. Even in the human world the laws of nature are paramount. Man’s birth, growth and life are all regulated by a set of biological laws. He derives sustenance from nature in accordance with an unalterable law. All the organs of his body, from the smallest tissues to the heart and the brain, are governed by the laws prescribed for them. In short, ours is a law-governed universe and everything in it is following the course that has been ordained for it.
This powerful, all-pervasive law, which governs all that comprises the universe, from the tiniest specks of dust to the magnificent galaxies of the heavens, is the law of God, the Creator and Ruler of the universe. As the whole of creation obeys the
1. Another literal meaning of the word Islam is ‘peace’ and this signifies that one can achieve real peace of body and mind only through submission and obedience to Allah. Such a life of obedience brings with it peace of the heart and establishes real peace in society at large.
The sun, the moon, the earth and all other heavenly bodies are thus
‘Muslim’. So are the air, water, heat, stones, trees and animals. Everything in
the universe is ‘Muslim’ for it obeys God by submission to His laws. Even a man
who refuses to believe in God, or offers his worship to someone other than ‘
Allah, has necessarily to be a ‘Muslim’ as far as his existence is concerned. For
his entire life, from the embryonic stage to the body’s dissolution into dust
after death, every tissue of his muscles and every limb of his body follows the
course prescribed by God’s law. His very tongue which, on account of his
ignorance advocates the denial of God or professes multiple deities, is in its
very nature ‘Muslim’. His head which he wantonly bows to others besides Allah
is born ‘Muslim’. His heart, which, through his lack of true knowledge, cherishes
love and reverence for others, is ‘Muslim’ by intuition. These are all obedient
to the Divine Law, and their functions and movements are governed by the
injunctions of that law alone. Let us now examine the situation from a
different angle. Man is so constituted that there are two distinct spheres of
his activity. One is the sphere in which he finds himself totally regulated by
the Divine Law. Like other creatures, he is completely caught in the grip of
the physical laws of nature and is bound to follow them. But there is another
sphere of his activity. He has been endowed with reason and intellect. He has
the power to think and form judgements, to choose and reject, to approve and
spurn. He is free to adopt whatever course of life he chooses. He can embrace
any faith, and live by any ideology he likes. He may prepare his own code of
conduct or accept one formulated by others. Unlike other creatures, he has been
given freedom of thought, choice and action. In short, man has been bestowed with
free will. Both these aspects co-exist side by side in man’s life. In the first
he, like all other creatures, is a born Muslim, invariably obeying the
injunctions of God, and is bound to remain one. As far as the second aspect is
concerned, he is free to become or not to become a Muslim. It is the way a
person exercises this freedom which divides mankind into two groups: believers
and non-believers. An individual who chooses to acknowledge his Creator,
accepts Him as his real Master, honestly and scrupulously submits to His laws
and injunctions and follows the code. He has achieved completeness in his Islam
by consciously deciding to obey God in the domain in which he was endowed with
freedom of choice. He is a perfect Muslim: his submission of his entire self to
the will of Allah is Islam and nothing but Islam. He has now consciously
submitted to Him Whom he had already been unconsciously obeying. He has now
willingly offered obedience to the Master Whom he already owed obedience to
involuntarily. His knowledge is now real for he has acknowledged the Being Who endowed
him with the power to learn and to know. Now his reason and judgement are set
on an even keel - for he has rightly
decided to obey the Being Who bestowed upon him the faculty of thinking and
judging. His tongue is also truthful for it expresses its belief in the Lord
Who gave it the faculty of speech. Now the whole of his existence is an
embodiment of truth for, in all spheres of life, he voluntarily as well as
involuntarily obeys the laws of One God - the Lord of the Universe. Now he is
at peace with the whole universe for he worships Him Whom the whole universe
worships. Such a man is God’s vice-regent on earth. The whole world is for him
and he is for God. The Nature of Disbelief In contrast to the man described
above, there is the man who, although a born Muslim and unconsciously remaining
one throughout his life, does not exercise his faculties of reason, intellect
and intuition to recognise his Lord and Creator and misuses his freedom of
choice by choosing to deny Him. Such a man becomes an unbeliever - in the
language of Islam a Kafir. Kufr literally means ‘to cover’ or ‘to conceal’. The
man who denies God is called Kafir (concealer) because he conceals by his
disbelief what is inherent in his nature and embalmed in his own soul - for his
nature is instinctively imbued with ‘Islam’. His whole body functions in obedience
to that instinct. Each and every particle of existence - living or lifeless -
functions in accordance with ‘Islam’ and is fulfiling the duty that has been
assigned to it. But the vision of this man has been blurred, his intellect has
been befogged, and he is unable to see the obvious. His own nature has become
concealed from his eyes and he thinks and acts in utter disregard of it.
Reality becomes estranged from him and he gropes in the dark. Such is the
nature of Kufr. Kufr is a form of ignorance, or, rather, it is ignorance. What
ignorance can be greater than to be ignorant of God, the Creator, the Lord of
the Universe? A man observes the vast panorama of nature, the superb mechanism
that is ceaselessly working, the grand design that is manifest in every aspect
of creation - he observes this vast machine, but he does not know anything of
its Maker and Director. He knows what a wonderful organism his body is but is
unable to comprehend the Force that brought it into existence, the Engineer Who
designed and produced it, the Creator Who made the unique living being out of
lifeless stuff: carbon, calcium, sodium and the like. He witnesses a superb
plan in the universe - but fails to see the Planner behind it. He sees great
beauty and harmony in its working - but not the Creator. He observes a wonderful
design in nature - but not the Designer! How can a man, who has so blinded himself
to reality, approach true knowledge? How can one who has made the wrong
beginning reach the right destination? He will fail to find the key to Reality.
The Right Path will remain concealed for him and whatever his endeavours in
science and arts, he will never be able to attain truth and wisdom. He will be
groping in the darkness of ignorance. Not only that; Kufr is a tyranny, the
worst of all tyrannies. And what is ‘tyranny’? It is an unjust use of force or
power. It is when you compel a thing to act unjustly or against its true nature,
its real will and its inherent attitude.
We have seen that all that is in the universe is obedient to God, the
Creator. To obey, to live in accordance with His Will and His Law or (to put it
more precisely) to be a Muslim is ingrained in the nature of things. God has
given man power over these things, but it is incumbent that they should be used
for the fulfilment of His Will and not otherwise. Anyone who disobeys God and resorts
to Kufr perpetrates the greatest injustice, for he uses his powers of body and
mind to rebel against the course of nature and becomes an instrument in the
drama of disobedience. He bows his head before deities other than God and
cherishes in his heart the love, reverence and fear of other powers in utter
disregard of the instinctive urge of these organs. He uses his own powers and
all those things over which he has authority against the explicit Will of God
and thus establishes a reign of tyranny. Can there be any greater injustice,
tyranny and cruelty than that exhibited by this man who exploits and misuses
everything under the sun and unscrupulously forces them to a course which affronts
nature and justice? Kufr is not mere tyranny; it is rebellion, ingratitude and
infidelity. After all, what is the reality of man? Where do his power and
authority come from? Is he himself the creator of his mind, his heart, his soul
and other organs of his body - or have they been created by God? Has he himself
created the universe and all that is in it - or has it been created by God? Who
has harnessed all the powers and energies for the service of man - man or God?
If everything has been created by God and God alone, then to whom do they
belong? Who is their rightful sovereign? It is God and none else. And if God is
the Creator, the Master and the Sovereign, then who would be a greater rebel
than the man who uses God’s creation against His injunctions - and who makes
his mind think against God, harbours in his heart thoughts against Him, and
uses his various faculties against the Sovereign’s Will. If a servant betrays
his master you denounce him as faithless. If an officer becomes disloyal to the
state you brand him as a traitor and renegade. If a person cheats his
benefactor you have no hesitation in condemning him as ungrateful. But such
acts cannot begin to compare to the one which the disbeliever commits by his
Kufr. All that a man has and all that he uses for the benefit of others is a
gift of God. The greatest obligation that a man owes on this earth is to his parents.
But who has implanted the love of children in the parents’ heart? Who endowed
the mother with the will and power to nurture, nourish and feed her children?
Who inspired the parents with the passion to spend everything in their
possession for the well-being of their children? A little reflection would
reveal that God is the greatest benefactor of man. He is his Creator, Lord,
Nourisher, Sustainer, as well as King and Sovereign. So what can be greater betrayal,
ingratitude, rebellion and treason than Kufr, through which a man denies and
disobeys his real Lord and Sovereign? Do not think that by committing Kufr man
does or can do the least harm to Almighty God. Insignificant speck on the face
of a tiny ball in this limitless universe that man is, what harm can he do to
the Lord of the Universe Whose dominions are so infinitely vast that we have
not yet been able to explore their boundaries even with the help of the most
powerful telescope|; Whose power is so
great that myriads of heavenly bodies, like the Earth, the Moon, the Sun and
the stars are, at His bidding, whirling like tiny balls; Whose wealth is so
boundless that He is the sole Master of the whole universe; and Who provides
for all and needs none to provide for Him? Man’s revolt against Him can do Him
no harm; on the other hand, by his disobedience, man treads the path of ruin
and disgrace. The inevitable consequence of this revolt and denial of reality
is a failure in the ultimate ideals of life. Such a rebel will never find the
thread of real knowledge and vision; for knowledge that fails to reveal its own
Creator can reveal no truth. Such a man’s intellect and reason always run astray,
for reason which errs about its own Creator cannot illumine the paths of life. Such
a man will meet with failures in all the affairs of his life. His morality, his
civic and social life, his struggle for livelihood and his family life, in
short, his entire existence, will be unsatisfactory. He will spread confusion
and disorder. He will, without the least compunction, shed blood, violate other
men’s rights and generally act destructively. His perverted thoughts and
ambitions, his blurred vision and distorted scale of values, and his evil
activities will make life bitter for him and for all around him. Such a man
destroys the calm and pose of life on earth. And in the life hereafter he will
be held guilty for the crimes he committed against his nature. Every organ of
his body - his brain, eyes, nose, hands and feet will complain against the
injustice and cruelty he had subjected them to. Every tissue of his being will
denounce him before God Who, as the fountain of justice, will punish him as he
deserves. This is the inglorious consequence of Kufr. It leads to the blind
alleys of utter failure, both here and hereafter. The Blessings of Islam These
are the evils and disadvantages of Kufr. Let us now look at some of the
blessings of Islam. You find in the world around you and in the small kingdom
of your own self innumerable manifestations of God’s divine power. This grand
universe, which ceaselessly works with matchless order and in accordance with
unalterable laws, is in itself a witness to the fact that its Designer, Creator
and Governor is an Omnipotent, All-Powerful Being with infinite power, knowledge
and resources, a Being of perfect wisdom, Whom nothing in the universe dares disobey.
It is in the very nature of man, as it is with every other thing in this
universe to obey Him. Besides endowing man with the capacity to acquire
knowledge, the faculty to think and reflect, and the ability to distinguish
right from wrong, God has granted him a certain amount of freedom of will and
action. In this freedom lies man’s real trial; his knowledge, his wisdom, his power
of discrimination and his freedom of will and action are all being tried and
tested. Man has not been obliged to adopt any particular course, for by
compulsion the very object of the trial would have been defeated. If in an examination
you are compelled to write a certain
answer to a question, the examination will be of no use. Your merit can be
properly judged only if you are allowed to answer questions freely, according
to your own knowledge and understanding. If your answer is correct you will
succeed; if it is wrong you will fail, and your failure will bar the way to
further progress. The situation which man faces is similar. God has given him
freedom of Will and action so that he may choose whatever attitude in life he likes
and considers proper for himself - Islam or Kufr. By the correct use of his
knowledge and intellect a man recognises his Creator, reposes belief in Him,
and, in spite of being under no compulsion to do so, chooses the path of
obedience to Him. He understands both his own nature and the laws and realities
of nature itself; despite the power and freedom to adopt any course, he adopts
the way of obedience and loyalty to God, the Creator. He is successful in his
trial because he has used his intellect and all other faculties properly. He
uses his eyes to see the reality, his ears to listen to the truth and his mind to
form right opinions. He puts all his heart and soul into following the right
way he has so chosen. He chooses Truth, sees the reality, and willingly and
joyfully submits to his Lord and Master. He is intelligent, truthful and
dutiful, for he has chosen light over darkness. Thus he has proved by his
conduct that he is not only a seeker after Truth but is the knower and worshipper
as well. Such a man is on the right path, and is destined to succeed in this
world and in the world to come. Such a man will always choose the right path in
every field of knowledge and action. The man who knows God with all His
attributes knows the beginning as well as the ultimate end of reality. He can
never be led astray, for his first step is on the right path, and he is sure of
the direction and destination of his journey in life. He will reflect on the
secrets of the universe, and will try to fathom the mysteries of nature, but he
will not lose his way in mazes of doubt and scepticism. His path being
illumined with Divine Vision, his every step will be in the right direction. In
science he will endeavour to learn the laws of nature and uncover the hidden treasures
of the earth for the betterment of humanity. He will try his level best to
explore all avenues of knowledge and power and to harness all that exists on
earth and in the heavens in the interests of mankind. At every stage of his enquiry
his God-consciousness will save him from making evil and destructive uses of
science and the scientific method. He will never think of himself as the master
of all these objects, boasting to be the conqueror of nature, arrogating to
himself godly and sovereign powers and nourishing the ambition of subverting
the world, subduing the human race and establishing his supremacy over all and
sundry by fair means or foul. Such an attitude of revolt and defiance can never
be entertained by a Muslim scientist - only a Kafir scientist can fall prey to
such illusions and by submitting to them expose the entire human race to the danger
of total destruction and annihilation.2 A
Muslim scientist, on the other hand, will behave in an altogether different
way. The deeper his insight into the world of science, the stronger will be his
faith in God. His head will bow down before Him in gratitude. His feelings will
be that as his Master has blessed him with greater power and knowledge so he
must exert himself for his own good and for the good of humanity. Instead of
arrogance there will be humility. Instead of power drunkenness there will be a
strong realisation of the need to serve humanity. His freedom will not be
unbridled. He will be guided by the tenets of morality and Divine Revelation.
Thus science will in his hands, instead of becoming an instrument of
destruction, become an agency for human welfare and moral regeneration. And
this is the way in which he will express his gratitude to his Master for the
gifts and blessings He has bestowed on man. Similarly, in history, economics,
politics, law and other branches of arts and science, a Muslim will nowhere lag
behind a Kafir in the fields of inquiry and struggle, but their angles of view
and consequently their modus operandi will be widely different. A Muslim will
study every branch of knowledge in its true perspective. He will strive to
arrive at the right conclusions. In history he will draw correct lessons from
the past experiences of man, and will uncover the true causes of the rise and
fall of civilisations. He will try to benefit from all that was good and right
in the past and will scrupulously avoid all that led to the decline and fall of
nations. In politics his sole objective will be to strive for 2. The situation which confronts modern man
today is similar. Dr. Joad says: “Science has given us power fit for the gods,
and to its use we bring the mentality of schoolboys and savages.” The famous
philosopher Bertrand Russell writes: “Broadly speaking. we are in the middle of
a race between human skill as to means and human folly as to ends, every
increase in the skill required to achieve them is to the bad. The human race
has survived hitherto owing to ignorance and incompetence: but. given knowledge
and competence combined with folly. there can be no certainty of survival.
Knowledge is power, but it is power for evil just as much as for good. It
follows that unless man increases in wisdom as much as in knowledge, increase
of knowledge ‘will be increase of sorrow.” (Impact of Science on Society, pp.
120-121.) Another leading thinker has put the paradox in these words: “We are
taught to fly in the air like birds, and to swim in the water like fishes:but
how to live on the earth we do not know “(Quoted bv Joad in Counter attack From
the East, p.28.) the establishment of
policies where peace, justice, fraternity and goodness reign, where man is a brother
of man and respects his humanity, where no exploitation or slavery is rampant,
where the rights of the individual are upheld, and where the powers of the
state are considered as a sacred trust from God and are used for the common
welfare of all. In the field of law, the endeavour of a Muslim will be to make
it the true embodiment of justice and the real protector of the rights of all
particularly of the weak. He will see that everybody gets his due share and no
injustice or oppression is inflicted on anyone. He will respect the law, make
others respect it, and will see that it is administered equitably. The life of
a Muslim will always be filled with godliness, piety, righteousness and
truthfulness. He will live in the belief that God alone is the Master of all,
that whatever he and other men possess has been given by God, that the powers
he wields are only a trust from God, that the freedom he has been endowed with
is not to be used indiscriminately, and that it is in his own interest to use
it in accordance with God’s Will. He will constantly keep in view that one day
he will have to return to the Lord and submit an account of his entire life.
The sense of accountability will always remain implanted in’ his mind and he
will never behave irresponsibly. Think of the moral excellence of the man who
lives with this mental attitude - his will be a life of purity and piety and
love and altruism. He will be a blessing unto mankind. His thinking will not be
polluted with evil thoughts and perverted ambitions. He will abstain from
seeing evil, hearing evil, and doing evil. He will guard his tongue and will
never utter a word of lie. He will earn his living through just and fair means
and will prefer hunger to a food acquired unfairly through exploitation or
injustice. He will never be a party to any form of oppression or violation of
human life and honour. He will never yield to evil, whatever the cost of
defiance. He will be an embodiment of goodness and nobility and will defend
right and truth even at the cost of his life. Such a man will be a power to be
reckoned with. He is bound to succeed. He will be highly honoured and
respected. How can humiliation ever visit a person who is not prepared to bow
his head before anyone except God the Almighty, the Sovereign of the universe?
No one can be more powerful than he - for he fears none but God and seeks blessings
from none but Him. What power can make him deviate from the right path? What wealth
can buy his faith? What force can shape his conscience? What power can compel
him to behave as he does not want to? He will be the most wealthy. No one in
the world can be richer or more independent than he - for he will live a life
of austerity and contentment. He will be neither a sensualist, nor indulgent,
nor greedy. He will be contented with whatever he earns fairly and honestly and
however much ill-gotten wealth is heaped before him he will not even look at
it. He will have peace and contentment of heart and what can be a greater
wealth than this? He will be the most revered, popular and beloved. No one can
be more lovable than he - for he lives a life of charity and benevolence. He
will be just to everyone, discharge his duties honestly, and work for the good
of others. People’s hearts will be naturally drawn towards him. No one can be more trustworthy than he - for
he will not betray his trust, nor will he stray from righteousness: he will be
true to his word, and straightforward and honest in his dealings. He will be
fair and just in all his affairs, for he is sure that God is ever-present,
ever-vigilant. Words fail to describe the credit and goodwill which such a man
commands. Can there be anyone who will not trust him? Such is the life and
character of a Muslim. If you understand the true character of a Muslim, you
will be convinced that he cannot live in humiliation, abasement or subjugation.
He is bound to prevail and no power on earth can overwhelm him. For Islam
inculcates in him the qualities which cannot be driven out. And after living a
respectable and honourable life on this earth, he will return to his Creator Who
will shower on him the choicest of His blessings - for he will have discharged
his duty ably, fulfiled his mission successfully and emerged from his trial
triumphantly. He is successful in life in this world and in the hereafter will
live in eternal peace, joy and bliss. This is Islam, the natural religion of
man, the religion which is not associated with any person, people, period or
place. It is the way of nature, the religion of man. In every age, in every country
and among every people, all God-knowing and truth-loving men have believed and lived
this very religion. They were all Muslims, irrespective of whether they called
that way Islam. Whatever its name was, it signified Islam and nothing but Islam.
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